Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-05-12
Life in a sun Cluster.

From the N. T. Sun.
In the constellation Hercules there lisa compact
star cluster well known TO owners Of powerful
telescopes as one Of the most interesting and
wonderful phenomena to be found In the heavens.
To the naked eye 1t looks like faint star. In the
the telescopett appears as a spherical mass OF
stars, with short, struggling streams also CON-
posed OF stars radiating from William Herschei
computed the number OF stass In this cluster at
not less than IA 600. In the center they appear
SO compressed that it IS impossible to count tGen
Or course every one OF the members of this
starry swarm Is sun, and astronomers have some
times piqued their Imagination by wondering
what muSI be the condition OF things prevailing
In such a system OF suns, and what results dOW
from the inevitable laws OF gravitatiOn there
Could Inhabited worlds exist In sun CLUSTER
calculation OF the probable size of the stars In
the cluster In Hercules, and OF the average dis
just been made in England by Mr.. j. e. Gore, He
concludes that they have an average diameter
OF A., 600 miles, and that the distance from any
star in the cluster TO the next star Is 600 600 O
miles.
Taking Mr. Cores figures as being probably AZ
Will give US some very interesting results. II the
stars in question are only A. 900 miles In diameter
the surface Of each possesses an area about one
quarter as great as that OF the planet Jupiter
Their distance apart, as calculated by MT. Gore.
is more than twenty times the present distance
OF Jupiter from the earth. Just now Jupiter
shines brighter Than any star In our sky, with the
exception OF Venus. Il its disk We're reduced to
One-quarter OF its actual SIZE and fC was removed
twenty tunes as lar away as IL Is 1t would BE-
come invisible TO the naked eye.
But Jupiter shines only by rejected light, while
the stars, being suns, shine with their own light
which is enormously more brilliant than tnaf OF a
planet. So If wish to get an idea OF the amount
or light shed by one OF these clustered In Her.
cuies, we must put q body that shines after the
II we should remove the sun TO a distance OF
9,OOO,oOO,OO0 miles, or, roughly, a hundred times
as Lar away as IT actually Is II would send US only
receive from IL. Then IL we should reduce 1t to q
diameter OF 5000 miles, equal TO that OF the stars
In the hercules cluster It's light would be reduced
about $50 times more, so that 1t would then shine
to Us with only one DISQUALIFICATION
thouSandth part OF the light that it now sheds
upon the earth This then, supposing that the
intrinsic briliancy OF the stars Is the that
OF the sun, would represent the amount OF light
that one OF the stars in the cluster sends TO its
next neighbor.
But In order TO get conception OF the appear
ahce that such star would present, We must CON-
pare It's light with that OF the stars In our sky
This comparison involves a good deal OF uncer.
tlinty, owing TO the great differences in the yart-
Gus estimates that have been made Of the bright
moon Sun We can probably get near enough 20
the truth ior our purpose. Take the bright star
Sirius the most brilliant fixed in the heavens
Any one who wishes can see it In the southern
heavens early In the evening at this season Vari-
Gus estimates OF the light or Sirius have made it
from one twenty thousand Inillionth up to about
one hve-thousand-m iliOaLh OF the suns light
suppose We adopt the latter figure as being the
mo, Ia, iaV9ranie TO SIRIUS. Then comparing this
with the fraction representing the light Of star
In hercules as seen from its nearest neighbors in
comparison with that or the sun, namely, one
three-mlllion six hundred thouSandIh, we ind
lhat the hight OF tie star Is nearly Loo times as
great as the light that Sirius sends to us In
other words, If we could visit the cluster in Her
CUES, We should IND that its stars aS seen from
distance OF 5000, 600 miles their average dis
lance apart, would shine 400 times a. bright az
Sirius is probably 500 times as bright AZ the
fain,est star that the naked eye perceives on y
Gear night; Then imagine star three times e
tlach brighter than Skins as Sirius Is brighter
than the smallest star you can see and Won wifi
have some notion OF the brlliancy Of the stars in
question as seen from one another
Now let US suppose world revolving around a
star situated at the center Of the cluster Assum-
Ing that the surrounding stars are arranged ia a
pretty symmetrical way, there would be o dozen
OF them within u distance OF 1900 COO OOO miles
AID each or these would, as seen from the world
at the center, appear 400 tunes brighter than
MY stars twice as far away each OF which would
DC $50 times as bright as sirius Thus the stars of
tme as seen rom the center, would go on
ness out as the total number is limited to 1900
OF 1900 the outermost stars would be approxi-
fnatey 10 600 OOO,0O miles away. and each would
shine SIX times as bright as Sirius
IL Is apparent that there would be sort Of per.
petuai daylight at the center OF such q congreyn-
iion OF suns. Let Us see about DOW bright this
light would be- or course our supposititio1s planet
might receive from the sun to which &c belonged
MouIa Be edysf as 0og sun gives 70 but
IN other words, OF that side Of it which was
Turned away from Its sun? Zollner has estimated
tne OF The sun 10 be 600 times as great as
lnal OF the ful moon. This upon the estimate OF
the amount OF sirius light as compared With the
suns tnat we have adopted, would give the moon
ABOUT SOoo times as much light as Sirius
. Since eaco OF the stars In the cluster has L. 400
times the Light OF Slrius at 600 600 600 miles ais
lance, ana there are . dozen OF them within that
distance OF the CENTER IL follows that these dozen
stars VIII shed above twice as much light upon q
world Ia the center OF the cluster as the nun moon
Senos 70 US And since the light received from q
oody varies 1nverSely as the square OF It's distance
Wnne the number or such bodies arranged In the
1ougny spherical way We have supposed would
increase directly AZ the square OF their distance
iIoLn the center, it Is clear that the amount OF
light received from the whole clusser would ~ ss
many Times the amount received nom the twelve